"Would not my Sire, with ftern contracted

"Brows,

"Condemn my Choice, and curse my nup"tial Vows?

"Was it for this I learn'd the Merchant's

"Art?

"Only to gain a doating Negro's Heart! "Was it for this the raging Seas I croft? "No; Gold induc'd me to the Indian Coaft; "And Gold is offer'd for this fimple Dame; "Shall I refuse it, or renounce my Flame ?--"Let am'rous Fools their tiresome Joys re

66 new,

"And doat on Love, while Int'reft I purfue." He added not; for now, intent on Gold, And dead to all Remorfe, the Dame he fold.

Amanda ftood confounded with Surprize, And filently reproach'd him with her Eyes : She often try'd to fpeak, but when she try'd, Her Heart fwell'd full, her Voice its Aid deny'd ;

And, when she made her fault'ring Tongue

obey,

Thefe Words, commix'd with Sighs, found out their Way:

"Who can the mystic Ways of Fate ex"plain?

"Am I awake, or do I dream again ?

"Is this the fad Reward of all my Care? "Was it for this I chear'd thee in Defpair?

"The Gods above (if any Gods there be) "Witness what I have done to fuccour thee! "Yet, if my Kindness can't thy Pity move, Pity the Fruits of our unhappy Love: "Oh! let the Infant in my pregnant Womb, "Excite thee to revoke my threaten'd Doom! "Think how the future Slave, in Climes re66 mote,

Shall curfe the treach'rous Sire, that him be"got."

So fpake the mourning Dame, but spake in

vain;

Th' obdurate Youth infults her with Difdain;
Not all her Kindness could his Pity move,
Nor yet the Fruits of their unhappy Love.
But, as the Flames, which soften Wax, dif-
play

The fame warm Force to harden fordid Clay;
That Motive, which would melt another Heart,
More harden'd his, and made him act a double
Villain's Part.

He, for the Child, demands a larger Sum; And fells it, while an Embryo in the Womb.

And now he fternly takes her by the Hand; Then drags her on, reluctant, to the Land; While, as fhe walks, her difmal Fate fhe

"O base, ungrateful Youth! fhe loudly cries ; "O base, ungrateful Youth! the Shore re"plies:

"And canft thou, cruel, perjur'd Villain! "leave

"Thy tender Infant too, an abject Slave, "To toil, and groan, and bleed beneath the "Rod?

"Fool, that I was, to think thou wert a God! "Sure from fome favage Tiger art thou ❝fprung

"No! Tigers feed, and fawn upon, their "Young:

"But thou despisest all paternal Cares, "The Fate of Infants, and their Mothers "Pray'rs."

In vain she does her wretched State deplore; Pleas'd with the Gold, he gladly quits the Shore ;

The ruffling Winds dilate the Sails, the Ship Divides the Waves, and skims along the Deep. Three Days the bellying Canvafs gently fwells, Clear fhines the Sun, and friendly blow the Gales;

Then frowning Clouds inveft the vaulted Sky, And hollow Winds proclaim a Tempest nigh; Fierce Boreas loudly o'er the Ocean roars, Smoke the white Waves, and found the adverfe Shores ;

While to increase the Horrors of the Main,
Defcends a Deluge of impetuous Rain.
The giddy Ship on circling Eddies rides,
Tofs'd, and re-tofs'd, the Sport of Winds and
Tides.

Redoubled Peals of roaring Thunder roll,
And Flames, conflicting, flash from Pole to
Pole,

While guilty Thoughts distract Avaro's Soul.
Of Life defpairing, tho' afraid to die,
One fatal Effort yet he means to try:
While all the busy Crew, with panting Breath,
Were lab'ring to repel the liquid Death;
Avaro from the Stern the Boat divides,
And yields up to the Fury of the Tides :
Tofs'd on the boift'rous Wave, the Veffel flies,
Now finking low, now mounting to the Skies;
Till foon the Storm decreas'd, and, by De-

grees,

Hufh'd were the Winds, and calm the ruffled
Seas;

The Sailors fafely steer their Course again,
And leave Avaro floating on the Main;
Who landed quickly on a lonely Isle,
Where human Feet ne'er print the baleful Soil;
A dreary Wilderness was all appear'd,
And howling Wolves the only Sound he heard;
A thousand Deaths he views before his Eyes,
A thoufand Guilt-created Fiends arife;

A

A confcious Hell within his Bofom burns,

And racks his tortur'd Soul, while thus he

mourns:

"Curs'd be the Precepts of my selfish Sire, "Who bad me after fatal Gold afpire!

Curs'd be myself, and doubly curs'd, who fold "A faithful Friend, to gain that fatal Gold !"O! could these gloomy Woods my Sin conceal,

"Or in my Bofom quench this fiery Hell's "Here would I pine my wretched Life away, "Or to the hungry Savage fall a Prey

"But can the gloomy Woods conceal my Sin? "Or cooling Shadows quench the Hell within? "No; like fome Spirit banish'd Heav'n, I find "Terrors in ev'ry Place to rack my Mind; "Tormenting confcious Plagues increase my « Care,

"And guilty Thoughts indulge my just Des

pair

"O! where fhall I that piercing Eye evade, "That scans the Depths of Hell's tremen"dous Shade?

So faying, ftraight he gave a hideous Glare, With rolling Eyes, that witness'd strong Despair: Then drew his pointed Weapon from the

Sheath,

Confus'dly wild, and all his Thoughts on Death; To pierce his trembling Heart he thrice essay'd, And thrice his coward Arm deny'd its Aid: